Poached chicken gets a bad rap for being tough, dry, and a little squeaky between your teeth. But that’s probably because poaching is a relatively imprecise cooking method.

If your poaching water’s too hot, the meat overcooks; if you leave the meat in the water too long, it overcooks; if you use too little water, the meat_you guessed it_undercooks. There are a lot of variables when poaching chicken. Thankfully, cooking sous vide eliminates most of them.

For foolproof poached chicken, we cook chicken breasts at a moderate temperature for about an hour, which results in a juicy, tender texture that’s just firm enough that it doesn’t fall apart. While this recipe is finished in an hour, you can hold the chicken in the bath for up to 3 hours before the texture starts to change_giving you some flexibility.

This perfectly poached chicken is great on its own or sliced over salad. In addition, this method is a great starting point for experimentation and variation, so feel free to add spices, herbs, or boldly flavored marinades to the bag (just don’t add fresh garlic; it is particularly susceptible to botulism).

FOOLPROOF POACHED CHICKEN BREASTS

Servings: 4

Sous Vide Temperature: 150 F

Sous Vide Time: 1 to 3 hours

Active Cooking Time: 25 minutes

4 8 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed

Salt and pepper

1/4cup vegetable oil

Using sous vide circulator, bring water to 150 F in 7 quart container.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place chicken and oil in 1 gallon zipper-lock freezer bag and toss to coat. Seal bag, pressing out as much air as possible. Gently lower bag into prepared water bath until chicken is fully submerged, and then clip top corner of bag to side of water bath container, allowing remaining air bubbles to rise to top of bag. Reopen 1 corner of zipper, release remaining air bubbles, and reseal bag. Cover and cook for at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours.